San Diego - Adult Asian citrus psyllid Trapped

The California Department of Food and Agriculture has extended a quarantine of citrus tree parts into several areas of Riverside County, including the entire Coachella Valley, to control the spread of a pest that kills citrus trees.

State regulators initiated the quarantine after an adult Asian citrus psyllid was trapped in the Valley Center area of San Diego County. The pea-sized psyllid spreads a disease called the Huanglongbing disease, more commonly known as "greening."

The disease ruins the fruit and eventually kills the tree. No cases of greening have been reported in California, according to a statement.

Department spokesman Steve Lyle said the Valley Center discovery prompted extending the quarantine about five miles north of the county line to include areas of Temecula and east to the Aguanga area.

Also, several of the pests have been detected in Imperial County, Lyle said.

"Because we detected them this far north in Imperial County, the protocol dictated extending the quarantine into the entire Coachella Valley," Lyle said.